


You're Special

by Full_Moon_Lover



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Arguing, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Making Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 01:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14905976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Full_Moon_Lover/pseuds/Full_Moon_Lover
Summary: Alex is hurt after Zach ditched his birthday party because he was hanging out with “the guys”. Zach tries to make it up to him.orMy take on what I think should have happened after that party scene





	You're Special

Alex was done. 

He wasn't overreacting; he wasn't exaggerating; he was just done. 

A part of him wanted to say what he said at his birthday party was in the heat of the moment and he didn't think like that. He didn't wish the bullet had gone through his head and killed him. But deep down, he knew it was a lie. 

The failure known as his birthday party only confirmed what he already knew. Alex was considered a charity case by everyone around him. His dad kept going on about how he needed to try harder to get better and his mum always behaved as if she was walking on eggshells around him. Like she was terrified saying the wrong thing would set him off. 

Alex was more than aware that his outburst at his birthday party only confirmed the belief he was hanging by a thread and that the smallest of things would set him back to the beginning. 

She was right. He always felt angry and minor things pissed him off. 

Thinking back to the party, he winced when he remembered what set him off. 

Zach. 

Thinking of the other boy made him grit his teeth together to control his anger. Alex considered the other boy to be his best friend; one of the few friends he had left and someone he trusted. Even though sometimes Zach got on his nerves with his willingness to help and his certainty that one day Alex would get to walk again, he liked him. Alex enjoyed the other boy's company more as time went by.

That's why hearing him on the phone with his mum hurt him so much. Six months of hanging out together every day and eating lunch together during breaks and Zach was still ashamed to say Alex was his friend. He would rather his mum think her son was hanging out with rapists than to admit to being friends with the broken kid who tried to kill himself. 

Alex tried to pretend like it didn't affect him and he was just pissed because Zach was a liar and he kept holding on to the idea of Bryce as his friend but deep down Alex knew the truth. 

Zach was one of the few people who did not treat him like he was made of glass. Alex could be honest with him without being judged, and he looked forward to the times they were hanging out. It hurt that the other boy thought of him as an embarrassment. 

Seeing Zach leave his party to go back to his mum who thought her son was hanging out with the 'guys' snapped something in Alex. He was done with seeing everyone looking at him with pity in their eyes. He was done pretending he was doing well to appease his dad. 

To make matters worse, Jess' words only confirmed what he was already thinking in his head. He was a complete failure. 

Alex treated Hannah, a person supposed to be one of his best friends, like shit and was one reason she killed herself. He left Jess all alone to deal with the realisation that Bryce raped him and Justin tried to keep that from her. He even failed at killing himself. 

That didn't mean Alex didn't care like Jessica accused him of. He was sorry he made so many people suffer from his actions and it hurt to see his parents so broken up over him but that didn't mean he didn't care. 

His attempt at killing himself only showed how much he cared. There was something he couldn't remember which he could have stopped. He cared so much that the guilt of it made him think there was no other option other than to do what Hannah did.

What was Alex supposed to do now? 

Zach wanted nothing to do with him, Jessica was upset and Clay was busy dealing with his own shit. 

That left Alex alone in his bedroom, thought swirling inside his head of how he ruined everything; how he should have tried harder. 

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a knock on his door. 

Alex rolled his eyes, thinking it was his mum checking on him again or his dad ready to tell him how disappointed he was over the ruined birthday party. 

The last thing he expected was to see Zach Dempsey walking through his door and looking like a kicked puppy. Alex rolled his eyes and looked away. The look on Zach's face could get him to agree to anything but Alex wanted to stay angry. He knew he was right to call out Zach on his bullshit and a stupid apology would not be enough to make Alex forget the hurt. 

"Can we talk?" Zach said, sounding hopeful. 

"Don't you have your jock friends to get back to? What excuse did you give your mum this time?" Alex snapped, still refusing to look at the other boy. 

"I'm sorry, okay? I know how it sounded, and I didn't mean to hurt you." 

Alex scoffed and turned around to finally look at Zach. "Hurt? Who said anything about being hurt? I'm just pissed that I let you convince me you were different from all the other idiots only for you to throw that back in my face." 

Zach bit his lip, unsure of what he could say. He wanted to argue and say what Alex was saying wasn't true but he wasn't stupid. What Alex said to him at the party was true. He would rather tell his mum he was hanging out with Bryce and the rest of the guys than to admit that he and Alex struck up a friendship during their PT sessions. 

What was he thinking? Alex was funny and a sarcastic little shit but Zach liked him like that. He called him out when he was being stupid instead of just letting things go and Zach was grateful for it. The blonde boy made him want to be a better person. 

Too bad he fucked it up by acting as if Bryce, of all people, was more important to him than Alex. That couldn't be further from the truth. 

The only reason he was still hanging around with Bryce at school was that he wanted to uphold his position at school rather than be seen as the loser who went against the popular guys. He tried to ignore that, in doing so, he was sticking up for the guy who raped Hannah and Jessica. 

Bryce didn't care about anyone, especially him. He was only helping him out because he wanted Zach to keep his mouth shut in court. 

He didn't want to be that person anymore. 

Zach walked up to the bed and sat down, keeping his distance from Alex. He knew the other boy was still upset with him and the last thing he wanted was for Alex to lash out again because of him. "I'm sorry. I know it changes nothing, but I just wanted you to know that." 

"The guys are not more important than you. They can all fuck off, for all I care. I know all that and I still lied to my mum. I know you think it's because I'm ashamed to tell her you're my friend but that's not it at all. It was just easier to explain." 

Alex rolled his eyes but his glare softened so Zach counted it as a win. 

"It was easier to say you were hanging out with the guys than to tell her you were at my birthday party? Yeah, because that would have taken so much longer for you to say," Alex said, still not willing to let it go. "You really confuse me, Zach. One second you're being really nice, hanging up 'Happy Birthday' banners and sitting with me at lunch and the next you act as if you don't even want to be seen in the same room as me. What gives?" 

Zach sighed, not sure how he could explain himself without hurting Alex even more. Alex might have tried to pretend like he was just angry and not hurt but Zach knew him better than that. His words and actions at the birthday party hurt him and the last thing he wanted was to hurt him again by using the wrong choice of words. 

“You’re my best friend. Friends hang banners for each other’s birthdays and sit together at lunch. I guess I just let my mum get to my head," Zach tried to explain. He could only hope he was making sense. 

"She kept saying that Bryce was being helpful by offering me their family lawyer and I didn’t want to disappoint her. I felt like I needed to stick around with Bryce and keep you my secret. My mum couldn’t try to ruin it if she didn’t know about you. That sounds so stupid now but at the time I thought I was doing the right thing.” 

Alex didn't seem convinced and Zach was trying to think of what else he could say to convince him he really cared when his phone rang. 

Zach winced when he realised it was his mum calling him, probably to check up on him again. The timing couldn't have been worse but, looking up at Alex, he realised that this could help him show Alex he was serious. 

"Hey mum", he said, having to keep himself from rolling his eyes when he was bombarded with questions about his whereabouts and what he was doing. "Don't worry mum, I'm fine. I'm just...I'm hanging out with Alex. Yeah, we're friends. Listen I have to go because we're in the middle of a video game but I'll call you later, okay? Bye."

He did it. He told his mum the truth, and the world did not end or blow up in flames. His mum just told him not to be too late and to say hello to Alex for her. Zach didn't doubt he would be questioned once he got home but, for the moment, he was free. 

Zach was staring at his phone in shock and didn't see Alex's stunned face looking at him. 

"Did you just tell your mum we're friends?"

Zach was shaken out of his stupor by Alex's shocked voice coming from behind him. He was glad to notice Alex wasn't glaring at him anymore. It looked as if he was fighting a little smile. 

"I told her the truth. Because we are friends right? I didn't fuck it up too bad?" 

Alex rolled his eyes again but Zach could tell that it wasn't in anger this time. "So we're good?" 

"We're good Dempsey. As long as you don't go back to being a dick. The second you try to pretend we're not friends you're out, got it?" 

Zach nodded, having no intention of fucking it up again. 

They stared at each other, both unsure of what they were supposed to do. Zach was the one to break the awkwardness by moving closer to Alex and wrapping his arms around him for a hug. He felt Alex's body go rigid and almost cursed out loud. He could not have ruined things so fast. 

"What are you doing?" Alex asked, confused. 

"We just had a big fight and now I'm hugging you because we worked it out." 

"Do you hug everyone you have a fight with?" Alex asked. 

Zach could have easily said yes and the conversation would be over. He would pull away from the hug and they would move on as if nothing happened. But he was tired of being a coward. 

"Only when it's someone special." 

Alex pulled back from the hug and looked at Zach, feeling stunned. "Are you being serious?" 

"Never been more serious before in my life." 

Alex looked at him for a moment, almost as if he was judging how serious Zach was just by looking at his face. He seemed to get the answer he was looking for because Zach was being pulled in for a quick kiss that left him breathless. 

"So I'm special Dempsey?" Alex smirked.

"Shut the fuck up Standall."

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic written in the 13RW universe. Hopefully it doesn’t suck too badly.


End file.
